Choose to Boost Veggies and Fruit: Theme Three of the Healthy Kids Community Challenge

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May 5, 2017

The Healthy Kids Community Challenge (HKCC) is part of Ontario’s Healthy Kids Strategy, a cross-government initiative to promote children's health in Ontario. There are currently 45 communities—representing almost 40 percent of Ontario’s population—participating in the program united through one common goal: promoting children’s health through physical activity and healthy eating. The communities receive funds and supports from the government of Ontario to implement local activities based on specific healthy behaviour themes.

So far, the Healthy Kids Community Challenge has successfully implemented two themes for health promotion activities across Ontario:
Run. Jump. Play. Every Day: This theme was launched in September 2015 and encouraged physical activity through a mix of active play, active transportation, sports and structured physical activity.

Water Does Wonders: This theme encouraged kids and families to reach for water as a natural, healthy and free choice when thirsty instead of sugar-sweetened beverages.

The third theme, "Choose to Boost Veggies and Fruit", was recently launched in April. This theme encourages children and their families to make vegetables and fruit a part of every meal and snack. By making community-level changes, families and children can be empowered to choose to eat more vegetables and fruit.

During theme three of the Healthy Kids Community Challenge, communities will introduce campaigns, policies, programs and environmental supports that will encourage kids to eat more vegetables and fruit.

Some popular interventions for the theme, Choose to Boost Veggies and Fruit, include:

School gardens (e.g. tower gardens, community gardens, etc.)

Good food box programs (healthy affordable food for those in need)

Food skills and food literacy programs and resources

Intergenerational activities (e.g. engaging children and seniors in food literacy and skill building activities)

Children surroud a tower garden to learn about food and gardening. Credit: Food Share.

For more information about this theme, visit the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s website here.

The Healthy Kids Resource Centres, inlcuding the Nutrition Resource Centre, provide consultation support and capacity building to the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care for the Healthy Kids Community Challenge. For more information click here.

Funded by the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care, the Nutrition Resource Centre (NRC) has operated under the Ontario Public Health Association (OPHA) since 1999 and is one of 14 health promotion resource centres operating in Ontario. The NRC strengthens the capacity of health promotion professionals and community partners involved in healthy eating and nutrition across the health continuum. Through networking and collaboration, the NRC is fostering knowledge transfer and exchange (KTE) and is building a centre of excellence in evidence-based resources and tools to support program and policy development throughout Ontario.